Pressing and finishing machine



Jan. 12 1926.

, 7 1,569,621 T. H. LACY PRESSING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z M. 55 i 55 z E I WITNESSES:

INVENTOR: Tjz'omasji Del/way,

ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 12 1926. 1,569,621

3'. H. Dr; F-.I--.

PRESSING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V E N TOR: TflomasJiDeLacy,

\ J1 TTORNEYS.

WI TNESSE 12 T. H. DE LACY PRESSING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1923' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR:

BY r? I 77M; J4 TTORNEYS.

$1717; NESSES:

Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

UNITED STATES THOMAS H. DE LACY, 0F TREN'ION, NEW JERSEY.

PRESSING AND FINISHING MACHINE.

Application filed January a, 1928. Serial No. 615,496.

To all whom it may concern:.

Be it known that I, THOMAS a citizen of the United States, residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pressing and Finishing Machines, of which they following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to the manufacture of knitted garments, and more particularly to the pressing and finishing of hosiery.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine for use in hosiery mills which is characterized by means for treating unpressed hosiery to flatten and impart the necessary finish thereto and to facilitate the further handling of the pressed garments for the purpose of folding, banding, and packing; so that these operations, from the receipt of the unfinished garments to the final packing is continuous throughout.

In the course of manufacture, hosiery is subjected to a drying treatment following a dyeing or similar treatment in which the articles are moistened. In accordance with usual practice the wet hosiery are drawn over stocking forms which may be either of several types such' as the internally heated form or the solid drying board. In either event the object is to dry the garment and to impart the desired contour which it retains after drying and removal from the form. The result of this treatment is to crease the garment and to flatten it, although the outer surface is untouched or treated in any way. As a final treatment, the more expensive and delicate kinds of hosiery are subjected to a pressing treatment for the purpose of imparting an exterior finish or luster and to flatten the garment still more along the seam previously made during drying, by pressing together the sides of the garment so as to reduce the latter to minimum thickness, thus improving the appearance thereof and incidentally permitting several pairs of gar,- ments to be superposed during packing to form a package of reduced compass. This treatment is termed pressing and has been heretofore accomplished chiefly by subjecting superposed garments to sustained pressure in an ordinary reciprocating hydraulic press or the like, for periods varying from a few hours to twenty-four hours or more, usually without the application of heat, ex-

tre'me H. De LAor, the desired results. This operation is necespressure being relied upon to efiect sarily slow and intermittent adding to the ultimate cost of production and is subject to the dlsadvantage of requiring floor space for several presses, the necessity of keeping the garments in the production rooms for an undue period, whereas they might otherwise have been disposed of or stored away, with the added possibility of mixing sizes of garments when batches of several sizes are run at the same time. A

After the garments have been subjected to pressure for the desired length of time they are-removed from the press and distributed about the packing room before enclosure in the cartons. The method therefore does not encourage the orderly or efficient operation of a hosiery mill.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a small and compact machine designed to obviate the above stated and other disadvantages, and the use of one of which will dispense with the .necessity for two or more of' the screw or hydraulic presses and permit the finishing and packingof hosiery to be conducted in a very exped1t1ous and economical manner.

These and other objects are accomplished by what I now regard as the preferred em bodiment of my invention from among other forms and arrangements embraced within the spirit of said invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specification Figure I is a view inside elevation of the intermediate portion of a hosiery pressing, finishing and packing machine, constructed in accordance with the present invention and showing the feeding table and conveyor broken away for the purpose of illustrating the pressing mechanism on an enlarged scale.

Figure II is a View in transverse section taken on the line II-II of Figure I, showing the gear casings in dotted lines.

Figure III is a fragmentary view of the pressing mechanism in side elevation viewing the same from the side opposite that shown in Figure I and illustrating the gear casing in dotted lines.

Figure IV is a view in transverse section taken on the line IV-IV of Figure II.

Figure V is a detail view in section taken on theline V-V of Figure I; and

Figures VI and VII are general assembly views in top plan and side elevation respectively of the complete machine.

Proceeding to a description of the machine and referring more particularly to Figures VI and VII for the purpose of, first gaining a comprehensive idea of the machine as an entirety, 10 indicates generally what I term .thepressing mechanism of my hosiery finishing and pressing machine, to which mechanism the hosiery isfed. The feeding of the hosiery is accomplished by hand and may be conveniently done by spreading the hosiery upon a feeding table indicated at 11. The pressed hosiery discharged from the pressing mechanism is delivered b means of a conveyor mechanism, sectiona 1y indipacking end 14:.

cated at 12 and 13, constituting banding and discharging sections respectively, to the Directing attention now to the pressing -mechanism 10 for a complete understanding of its detailed construction reference is had to Figures I to V inclusive, in the several views of which 15 and 16 indicate a pair of frame members or standards located at the right and left hand sides of the machine respectively, considering the feeding table 11 as located at the forward end of the machine.

Each frame. member 15, 16, which maybe of any desired configuration, is formed at the top' with a portion for the support of rollers 17 18, 19 and 20 in horizontal alignment and extending transversely of the machine. The rollers 18 and 19 constitute the lower members of pressing elements the upper rollers of which in correspondence are indicated at 21 and 22 respectively. These upper rollers 21, 22 are providedwith end trunnions 23 Fig. V which are journalled in blocks 24; mounted for vertical movement in guide slots 25 formed in the upper ends of the frame standards 15, 16. The blocks 24 arelowered in the upper open ends of the guide slots 25 which are subsequently closed by the placement of cap members 26 upon the top of the frame structures later securely fastened in place. The cap members 26 are each provided above each guide slot 25 with an enlargement 27 constituting part of a variable pressure applying means including an undercut cavity in which the lower end of an adjusting bolt 28' operates for adjustment from the exterior. A coil spring 28' is interposed between the lower end of each adjusting bolt 28 and the top of its as sociated bearing block 2 f so as to urge the upper rollers 21, 22 downward to a variable degree by rotatively adjusting said bolts the latter being subsequently held against movement by associated jam nuts.

Each of the rollers 17, 18, 19 and 20, hereinafter referred to as the lower rollers, is provided, as shown in Figure V with a pair of end trunnions 29 Fi V by which the rotative support of said ro lers is effected in the frame structure. The trunnion 29 of each of the lower rollers 17 18, 19 and 20 at the right hand side of the machine is provided with a pinion 30, and-interposed between the rollers 17 and 18 and between the rollers 19 and 20 are idle pinions 31'for the purpose of transmitting motion therebetween, said pinions being supported upon the frame structure 15 in any manner found suitable or convenient. Interposed between the pinions 31 of the rollers 18 and 19 is a larger idle pinion 32 meshing therewith for transmitting motion to a meshing idler pinion 33 mounted upon the frame structure 15 directly thereabove. The meshing idler pinion 33 is flanked at either side by pinions 34 in meshing engagement and carried by the trunnions 23 of the upper pressing rollers 21 and 22. It will be obvious that the upper rollers 21, 22 are permitted to move vertically to a limited extent while the pinions 34 thereof are retained in mesh with the idler pinion 33 therebetween. As a consequence of this arrangement of pinions, all the rollers above referred to are connected one to another forsynchronous rotation, which is an important characteristic of this invention. The lower roller 19 is arbitrarily selected as the one to which power is initially applied; and as shown in the drawings the driving mechanism comprehendsa relatively large gear 35vfixed to said roller for rotation therewith. The large gear 35 in turn is in meshing engagement with a pinion 36, fixed to one end of a shaft 37, which is extended transversely of the machine and j ournalled at its ends in the frame standards 15, 16. A gear casing 38 encloses the gears 35 and 36, as indicated in the several views of the drawings. A gear 39 is mounted upon the shaft 37 for meshing engagement with a small pinion 40 carried by the shaft of the motor 41 functioning as a prime mover and which may be conveniently supported-upon a shelf 42 carried by and between the frame standards 15, 16. The gears 39 and 40 maybe enclosed by a gear casing as shown. The rollerpinions are also preferably enclosed by means of a removable casing 43 for the safety of the. operator. Rotation of the motor 41 will be transmitted through the train of gearing 35, 36 described to the roller 19 and thence to all of the other rollers which rotate synchronously in the proper relative directions to feed articles from one end of the roller series to the other.

The pressing elements will function when cold, although I may utilize heat when the nature of the fabric to be treated requires its use. To this end I provide a hood 44 located above the upper pressing rollers 21,

- 22 with its-edges disposed in close relation to the lower rollers 17 and 20, thus acting as a safety means to prevent the introduction of the hand of the operator to the pressing elements. I also provide a trough shaped enclosure beneath the lower rollers 18, 19 of the pressing elements cooperating with the hood 44 to form a heat retaining enclosure. I-Ieat may be applied in any manner found suitable or convenient, but I prefer to employ electric heating elements 46 of the enclosed type which are supported within the heat retaining members 44 and 45 and connected in any suitable manner to a source of current by means of a rheostat or other controlling arrangement whereby the heat supplied may be varied.

To support the articles in the interim of their passage between the rollers I may provide, as shown in Figure IV horizontal plates 47 disposed tangentially to the upper surfaces of the lower rolls 17, 18, 19- and 20.

Proceeding to a description of the feeding table indicated generally at 11, the structure comprises specifically a top plate 48 wlnch may be slightly inclined downward toward the roll 17 which constitutes the feeding roller for the pressing elements. The top plate 48 may be supported at its outerend by means of the diagonal braces 49 provided with anchorage upon the end frame members, and at its inner end upon the upper portions of the frame standards 15, 16 by bolting thereto as shown.-

The conveying portion of the machine comprehended Within the zones 12 and 13 consists of horizontal beams 50 supporting a plate 51 therebetween. Ihe inner ends of the beams 50 are conveniently bolted to the frame standards 15, 16 while their outer ends are supported upon legs 52. The intermediate portion of the beams 50 is braced and supported by means of the diagonal members 53 as shown. A conveyor roller indicated at 54 is mounted for rotation upon 'the upper ends of the-legs 52 and an endless conveyor belt 55 is trained around said roller 54 and around the above mentionedv roller 20, the latter constituting the operating roller for the conveyor belt. The lower stretch of the conveyor belt 55 may be supported upon idlers in the manner illustrated. The articles are delivered by the conveyor to a delivery table 56 supported upon the legs for subsequent handling in a manner to be explained. I

In the operation of the machine, the stockings, subsequent to a drying or forming operation in which the desired contour or shape is given them, as by drying on externally or internally heated forms, are superposed in pairs and spread out upon the table of the feeding section 11. The pairs are then moved by hand and fed to the roller 17 one or more pairs at a time depending upon the width of the machine, and carried by frictional contact solely, to

the first pressing element of the series, namely; the rollers 18 and 21, between which they are pressed and then fed between the rollers 19 and 22 of the next pressing element and eventually discharged upon the conveyor 55. In passing between the rollers 18, 21 and 19, 22 of the pressing elements the stockings are subjected to pressure and contact with the bare polished surfaces of said rolls, the effect of which is to flatten the nap of the fabric, impart a luster to the top and bottom sides of the pair, and reduce the latter to a minimum thickness while flattening down the seams. It is essential that the rollers 18, 21 and 19, 22 of each pressing element be rotated in synchronism or at the same speed or rate of linear surface travel, otherwise the possibility would exist that relative movement between the upper and lower rollers 18, 21 and 19, 22 respectively would occur and as a consequence the fabric would be given an undesired gloss and polish due to friction between the roller surfaces and the fabric.

It will be apparent that the pressure of the pressing rollers 18, 21 and 19, 22 concentrated upon the garments is equivalcit to the pressure that any garment would re ceive as its proportionate share in a hydraulic press where the pressure is distributed among all of the garments. In practice the pressure used will depend upon the nature of the fabric. Delicate silk garments may be satisfactorily pressed solely by the aid of the upper rollers 21, 22, the springs 28 being entirely released, since when made of steel said rollers are relatively heavy. For cotton goods pressure may be applied to the springs 28' of the pressure means, and for thick woolen material the pressure may be greatly increased. It will be apparent that the upper rollers 21, 22 will be raised during the passage of the garments therebeneath, compressing the springs 28 and exerting an added pressure. The pressure exerted by one pressing element may be varied relative. to that of the next so that the articles may be subjected to the treatment in stages. For instance the first pressing device 18, 21 at the entering end of the machine may be arranged to exert a very slight pressure and the following device or devices 19. 22 to act successively upon the article with increasing degrees of pressure to a maximum pressure required to complete the treatment. It will be obvious that the number of pressing elements to be embodied in any machine may be varied or increased to more than two, as I have illustrated two pairs of pressing rolls 18, 21 and 19, 22 merely as indicative of the principle employed.

As intimated above hosiery may be pressed without the aid of heat and in some cases a desirable luster can be given merely with the aid of cold rollers. However,

where heat is necessary the heating elements 46 are utilized to heat the pressing rolls 18, 21 and 19, 22 or rather warm them by radiation to an extent necessary or required by the character of the goods to be pressed. An extreme or high degree of heat, such as is used in ironing machines or mangles is not required nor desired in my machine but is rather to be avoided because of the undesirable finish that would be imparted to the garments. -Hence, contrary to'the usual practice of ironing machines in which moderate pressure and high heat is employed I use a greater pressure, concentrate upon the article, in the presence of only a mild degree of heat. The plates 47 between the rollers 1722 are also warmed adding to the heat treatment of the articles to which they are subiected in passing through the heated enclosure defined by the hood and trough members 44 and respectively. Another point of distinction is that any relative movement between the article and the pressing roll 21 or 22 is to be strictly avoided in my machine whereas 1n ironing machines such relative movement is desiredand often especially provided for because of the polish which results upon the work, a gloss or polish being desired in laundered linen and starched goods.

I am aware that machines have been heretofore devised for finishing hosiery and consisting of coacting rollers between which a stocking form or board is passed having a stocking applied thereon, the rollers being maintained in constant spaced relation at a distance equal to the thickness of the board. An essential point of difference between these machines and the present invention is that no boards are used with my machine the garments being empty when inserted between the rollers 18, 21 and 19, 22.

Returning now to a continuation of the I description of the treatment to which the articles are subjected, as the garments are passed through the pressing rollers 18 21v and 19, 22 and delivered upon the loading end of the conveyor belt 55 they are progressed at a fairly rapid rate to a point substantially midway of the stretch at which.

point an operator is stationed for the purpose of folding each pair of hose, such folding being a necessary treatment before packing in cartons. The folding is done through the aid of the belt movement. As the stockings are fed into the machine foot first, the folding operator merely grasps and lifts the toes of a pair so that the continued move ment of the belt 55 will carry the leg portion beneath the toes the latter being then dropped at the proper moment and the folded pair then grasped at the fold, raised and deposited upon a banding table indicated at 57 in Figures VI and VII, which may consist of a raised platform supported upon one of the horizontal beams 50. The

folded stockings are then banded," as the operation is termed, by thebanding o rator, whose dut ity is to apply a labe or other means to asten together the stockings of each pair, subsequent to which operation the pairs are again deposited upon the "conveyor and brought to the delivery table 56 upon whichthey are deposited and then re-' but stationed Within reach and about whic the boxing operators are positioned with paraphernalia to pack the finished garments,

in cartons.

It will thus be seen that the treatment of stockings, subsequent to forming is accomplished in. a continuous manner, so that they may be packed and removed to a place of storage as quickly as possible and kept in readiness for delivery to the consumer. These and other advantages will be readily apparent to those familiar with the art to which this invention a pertains.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A pressing and finishing machine for knitted wear, including successively operable pressing elements, each comprising coactive rollers adapted to exert relative heavy pressure upon articles introduced therebetween, in cooperation with means actuating the pressing elements to slowly progress the articles, heat retaining enclosures positioned above and below the pressing elements, and heating means within said enclosures to warm the rollers by radiation.

2. A pressing and finishing machine for knitted wear, including successively operable pressing elements, each comprising superposed coacting rollers adapted to exert relatively heavy pressure upon articles introduced therebetween, in cooperation with means actuating the pressing elements to slowly progress the articles, plates disposed between the elements to support the articles in passing from one element to the next, enclosures located above and below the pressing elements, and a heating element within each enclosure to heat the rollers and said plates by radiation.

3. A pressing and finishing machine for knitted wear including a series of successively operable pairs of coacting rollers between which thearticles are progressed, ad-

justable springs urging the upper rollers above and below the series of coacting roll- 7 tally progressed, independent means urging each consecutive pair of rollers together with a steadily increasing degree of pressure ranging from one end of the series to the other thereby subjecting the articles to an increasingly heavy pressure, in cooperation with means actuating the pressing elements to slowly progress the material, and means to heat said pressing elements.

5.,A pressing and finishing machine for knitted wear including a series of lower pressing rolls, a series of upper pressing rolls, power operated means for drivin the upper and lower rolls in reverse directions, and in synchronism, means for applyin and varyingpressure between the upper an lower rolls, means whereby the 11 per and lower rolls may be heated, including a housing for each pair of rolls partially embracing said rolls, and an electrical heater in each of said housings. V

6. A pressing and finishing machine for knitted wear, including successively operable pressing elements between which the articles are introduced, an enclosure for said elements, and an electric heating element in said enclosure to heat the elements by radiation.

7. A hosiery. finishing machine, including a feeding table upon which to lay the hose in superposed pairs, a connected pressing mechanism into one-end of which the hose are fed, a relatively long conveyor aligned with the feeding table at the opposite end of they pressing mechanism, a raised platform located at one side intermediate the ends of the conveyor to temporarily receive the articles from the conveyor for handing,

I said articles being subsequently received upon the conveyor and a delivery table contlnuous with the dischar in end of the conve or to receive the finis e and banded ar ties.

8. A hosiery finishing machine, including outer end of the conveyer support.

9. A pressing and finishing machine including frame members having vertical guideways, a series of horizontally aligned rolls, the endmost constituting feeding and discharging rolls respectively, a second series of rolls superposed above the intermediate rollers of the lower series, supporting means for said upper rolls operating in the guideways for vertical movement, and gearing connecting all of said rolls for rotation in synchronism and means substantially encloslng the entire series of rolls including elements adapted to heat said rolls from above and below by radiation.

10. A pressing and finishing machine, including end frame members having vertical guideways, a series of horizontally aligned rolls journalled therebetween the endmost constituting feeding and discharging rolls, a second series of rolls superposed above the intermediate roll of the lower series, supporting means for said upper rolls operating in the ideways for vertical movement, gears and idlers connecting the lower rolls for synchronous rotation in the same direc tion, gears carried by the upper rolls, and an idler in horizontal alignment with said a per gears permitting vertical movement 0? the upper rolls while in mesh and meshing with an intermediate idler of the lower series to ensure synchronous rotation of the upper rolls with respect to the lower and in reverse direction.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this 19th day of January, 1923.

moms H. DE mor. 

